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Gay Rights: A Lost Cause?

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s generated huge attention from the press. Often, organizers staged events based on the amount of press attention guaranteed to be present. This ultimately resulted with the government taking action in support of the protesters. In “Strategies of the American Civil Rights Movement,” by Doug McAdam, and “The Dynamics of the Media-Policy Connection,” by Itzahak Yanovitzky, the authors discuss the ability for organizations to use the media in order to promote substantial policy change.
McAdam links much of the success of the Civil Rights Movement to the media savvy Martin Luther King Jr. Although King’s tremendous speaking abilities stirred most of the nation, much of his influence is a result of his knowledge of media values. He knew that in order to create significant change in the nation, he needed the media and in order to reach the media, he needed to generate newsworthy events. These events, such as the March of Selma and Birmingham, pitted the “good” supporters of desegregation against the “evil” police attempting to put an end to the protests. What King did, then, is to frame the events in his own way; allowing for the media to pick up the story without needing to put other frames in place.
Although the first years of the movement brought about the government banning segregation, the progress began to dwindle after media lost interest because of the lack of significant events. Yanovitzky discusses this process in his study. He found that mass media attention at the beginning of a movement causes quick, short-term policy changes made by the government. After the policy change, however, the journalists lose interest and coverage ceases resulting in a lack of support for more complicated, long-term corrections.
A Gay Rights movement in the U.S. has begun to grow in prominence as several states legalized marriages between gay couples. While the policy changes have supporters, it seems possible that the issue will never become completely prominent in society. Civil Rights activists had the benefit of violent, racist people as generators of violence and unrest. Who do gay rights activists have as enemies? While conservatives denounce even civil unions between same-sex couples, it remains unbelievable that violence could erupt as a result of protests. The media, then, will likely not give the movement enough attention to force the federal government to step in and make policy changes.
With this in mind, I become curious as to how the leaders of this movement plan to forge ahead if history tells us media attention is a crucial element in policy change. Political leaders cannot be relied on to bring change this early in the game. Few would even consider risking their elected positions in order to instate legalized gay marriage.